Two Traitors and a Chessboard
by thetealninja
Summary: The day before they leave for Castle Oblivion, Marluxia and Axel play a game of Chess. Axel muses on his secret mission.


Hello and thankyou for bothering to read this. It's my first fanfic so be gentle. I just came up with this thought of having two plotters playing chess together and here it is.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, that's Square and Disney. If I did, there would have been more slash going on. Oh well...

thetealninja presents Two Traitors and a Chessboard

"Care for a match Axel?" Axel set down his book to see the Graceful Assassin standing before him with a chessboard. "Come again?" the redheaded pyromancer asked. "Since when do you play chess, and shouldn't you be packing? We're moving to Castle Oblivion tomorrow." The pink haired Nobody started setting up the board in front of Axel. It was an elegant obsidian and marble board, but it was the pieces that got Axel's attention. One set were pale pink, rose quartz, and the other set were darkened rubies. The rose quartz pieces all seemed to have a floral design while the ruby pieces looked like they were burning. "I play with Luxord normally and Larxene is packing my cases, honestly the girl can be such a brute about packing." The pieces set, number eleven sat down facing number 8. "You tried to bring your entire DVD collection didn't you?" Axel laughed as he moved to face his opponent. "We don't know how long we'll be there for and I need my musicals!"

Axel looked at the board and his expression turned serious. According to Saix, Marluxia was looking to take over the Organisation so this game might just be Pinky's way of seeing whether he can get the Flurry of Dancing Flames on side. This whole exercise at Castle Oblivion was to assess how far the rot went down and eradicate negative forces. "Who's going first?" Marluxia thought for a moment "Rock, Paper, Scissors?" The redhead grinned and the two shook fists "one, two, three!" Axel held his fist out and Marluxia winced at his index and middle finger. "Rock beats Scissors Marly, I'll go first." Axel moved a pawn from E2 to E4. "I'll be winning on the eighth turn by the way. Got it memorised?"

Marluxia ignored the comment and stared at the board. If his plans to seize the Organisation from Superior's grasp were to come to fruition he needed a big hitter like Axel. His Assassin Nobodies had the best track record for covert ops and as a fighter he was the only one able to stand toe-to-toe with Superior's lapdog and his chakrams meant he could go long distance against the Freeshooter. He moved a pawn from B7 to B6. "How do like the pieces? There's a man in Twilight town who carves statues out of any stone you like." Axel again looked at the pieces and he had to admit "they are marvellous. They are so detailed. But the flame design? Are you stroking my ego? If so, please continue." Pawn from D2 to D4. What to tell him? At this point things could go either way for this one. Axel was a rebellious Nobody and it was only his high success rate that kept him from receiving more reprimands. "I have an idea for a small project while we're at Castle Oblivion. Bit of a recruitment drive that could make our lives much easier, move Superior's grand scheme up a gear and raise those involved high up the ranks of the Organisation." Bishop from C8 to B7.

Axel concluded he'd have to visit the Olympus Coliseum again. When he'd bumped into Odysseus he'd seen the guy as an egomaniacal trickster who was way too smart for his own good. But the guy knew his games and green eyed Nobody was glad he'd got some lessons. Marly was getting his strong pieces out early to crack open Axel's defence, plus there's the intimidation factor. *Look at me! I have my Bishop out! All you have are your Pawns!* Axel thought about his status in the Organisation. He was their point man. He got the dirty jobs and got looked down on by the Senior members, the 'Original Nobodies'. When he and Isa lost their hearts he knew things'd be different but to hear the friend he'd grown up with tell him he had to join, spy on and kill comrades... his blue haired friend had lost more of himself than the pyromancer. Bishop from F1 to D3. Pawn from F7 to F5. "Well?" "Who else is in on it?" Marluxia looked closer at his opponent. Did he know? "The Senior Members look down on us and give us the scouting jobs, the spying jobs while they do admin. We're getting nowhere fast since only way to rise up would be if some died off and Nobodies don't die easy. Even then they stay close to home." Pawn from E4 takes Pawn from F5. "You want elevation so you need someone who isn't one of us. A Keyblade wielder maybe? Sora's on the move and his current path would take him near Castle Oblivion. We recently found Kairi's Nobody and she can do things that could make Sora more... amenable to our goals. Am I right so far?"

Marluxia forced the gears in his head to start moving again and moved his Bishop from B7 to take the Pawn on G2. "G-go on." Axel nodded and moved his Queen to H5. Thanks Odysseus. "Check. The problem is that Sora has a slim chance. One kid against all the Old Guys? Him and Roxas are about equal so no way. You need backup. Larxene does what you say and I tell ya; she's good at the stealth, the torture and the grunt work. But she wouldn't last two seconds against Saix, never mind Xigbar. I'm one of the young ones so I get the frustration. Also, I'm tight with our Keyblade wielders so we have backup. But you can't get them yet 'cause they won't go for this Machiavelli stuff. You want me. Am I right?"

Marluxia takes a deep breath. Pawn from G7 to G6. "You read Machiavelli?" Axel nods as he looks at the board. He was running the show. He had more space on the board and Marly had gone on the defence. He had also busted the Graceful Assassin's master plan. "Yeah, makes for a good read when your trying to destabilise the order in society." "The Notre Dame mission?" Axel moved his Pawn to take the G6 Pawn. "Yeah, who'd have thought a few fires would lead to a revolution? That Frodo guy's men would never've done that to Paris on that scale so stated a few of my own to get the people real angry." Marluxia moved his Knight from G8 to F6. This should handle the Queen. "It's Frollo, not Frodo. So what do you think?" He prepared his hand to summon Graceful Dahlia. Vexen had made some headway on his Replica Project. He had enough on the Chilly Academic to get one no questions asked and it only had to last the trip to Castle Oblivion. That far away from The World That Never Was, 'Axel' could have an accident. "I like it." Oh...Thank...Goodness. "You get your throne, I can get the recognition I deserve and what we say goes. What would be your first order?" Pawn to H7 "Check". Marluxia was dancing in his head, he let go of his weapon summon and relaxed into the game. "Redecorate." Marluxia looked again at the board. Axel was dominating this game, the second time the pyromancer had put him in check. This was a _real_ partner. Powerful, intelligent, good instincts and a hot bod. Knight from G6 takes Queen from H5.

"Some plant life I think, make this place a little less dead." "Yeah, some more colour'd be nice. I mean sure we Nobodies are all white or wearing black but do we have to live somewhere so... sterile?" Marluxia leaned back. Larxene had been his first conquest upon joining the Organisation and she was very creative but she enjoyed blood and pain far too much for his liking. With Vexen it had always been an exercise in power. Vexen was his toy, which was no base for a long-term relationship. Luxord... that was the rum and a game of strip poker that went waay too far. Axel could be a kindred spirit. But that was something to pursue when they got to Castle Oblivion. For now back to the game. He had neutralised the Queen and he had a Bishop ready to tear a Rook apart, he just needed to "Checkmate." What? Marluxia looked down. "What? How did..." Axel had moved his Bishop from D3 to G6. The Graceful Assassin's King was blocked in and there were no pieces he could sacrifice. Axel had sacrificed his Queen to get the Knight out of the way. The deviousness, the cunning. It was so... alluring. Yes he'd have to get more intimate with this one. "It's like I said Marly. Eight turns and number Eight wins." The smugness would have to go. "Indeed, you are very good Axel. Maybe you can give me some pointers another time. For now, I'm going to see how many of my musicals Larxene has taken out of my cases. If she's touched my Joseph then she's gone." Marluxia joked as he got up. "And that would be so bad." There was something about the way the redhead spoke just then that made the Lord of Oblivion Castle think he was being propositioned. Kill Larxene? His most loyal? Absurd. And yet...Marluxia blushed as the image of Axel writhing beneath him came to his mind. "Maybe. Good day Axel." Marluxia left the room.

Axel looked at the board. Was he really going to do this? Betray comrades for other comrades. From what he could see Marluxia was quite justified in his motivation. The younger members were the ones saddled with the grunt work as the senior members stayed home. And there had been a spark during the game. Flower boy might make for a good partner. He seemed to have retained more of himself like Axel had. And his skin looked sweet and smooth. He wouldn't mind sinking his teeth into that. He flicked the rose quartz King. He'd play both sides for now, see how things went. He looked again at the book he had been reading. A gift Isa had given him when he was Lea. Isa was gone. Let's see where this trip takes me. Number Eight stands up as the book burns to ash. He'd spend the rest of the day with Roxas. Hopefully Xion would be on a mission and it could be just the two of them, like before. He needed some good memories before he went on with the scheme.


End file.
